Ralts Line/RSE
Ralts can be found in Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald as a rare encounter only on Route 102. Ah, Ralts. One of the most frustrating yet rewarding Pokemon to find in a Nuzlocke run. Due to its double-layered scarcity (found in only one route at a 4% encounter rate), very few people ever manage to find a Ralts within a Nuzlocke challenge. However, if you ever do get your hands on the Feeling Pokemon, consider yourself a Lucky Locker, because if you raise a Ralts correctly, it can become an extremely powerful Psychic-type and asset to your team. Important Matchups - Emerald = * Gym #1 - Roxanne (Rustboro City, Rock-type): Ralts is, unfortunately, a bad match in this gym. It can only 3HKO with its attacks while even the Geodudes can 2HKO. Just keep away from this fight. * Rival (Rustboro City, optional): Lotad is doable, with Confusion 3HKOing, but know that you will take a bit of damage from its Astonish before you take it down. Don't fight Torchic, as it has the upper hand with Ember's 3HKO. Ralts loses in a one-on-one matchup against Torkoal, so stay away from it. Stay back from Mudkip as well, since you can't KO it before it KOs you - also, its Bide is evil. You should win against Wingull, although you will take quite a bit of damage in the process, so watch out. You should stay away from Treecko, as Quick Attack will outspeed and outdamage you. * Gym #2 - Brawly (Dewford Town, Fighting-type): Ralts really does shine in this gym. Machop gets 2HKOed by Confusion, easy enough. Meditite will also never be able to hit you as long as you spam Confusion, because its only attacking move is Focus Punch - just watch out that it doesn't set up Light Screen. Finally, Makuhita will be 2HKOed by Confusion, provided there is no Light Screen, while it will not be able to hurt you very much. * Rival (Route 110): Wingull is a safe fight, as it can only 4HKO Kirlia at best, while Kirlia should 2HKO with Confusion. Lombre is a tricky fight, as you outspeed it, although both your Confusion and its Astonish will 3HKO - take care if battling it. You win against Slugma, as you 2-3HKO with Confusion. Kirlia will 2HKO Combusken, while it can 4HKO. Do not fight Marshtomp - it 2HKOs with Mud Shot. Same goes for Grovyle - it outspeeds and Pursuit just hurts too much. * Wally (Mauville City): You're stronger than it, definitely. The battle may take a little bit because of Psychic's ineffectiveness against itself, but you will emerge victorious. Eventually. * Gym #3 - Wattson (Mauville City, Electric-type): Voltorb outspeeds and will likely OHKO Kirlia with Self-Destruct, you will be unable to even dent Magneton, and Manectric will 2HKO with Shock Wave. You can take on Electrike, as Confusion will 3HKO it, but that's it. Other than that, stay away from this Gym. * Tabitha (Mt. Chimney): Kirlia has a 50% chance to 2HKO the first Numel, while it can only 5HKO at best, so go wild. You should only fight Poochyena if you decided to purchase Thunderbolt at the Game Corner, which will 2HKO - otherwise, stay away from it. Stay away from the level 22 Numel, as it has too much potential for destruction, including a possible OHKO. Finally, Zubat is safe enough to take on, as Confusion will 2HKO and Thunderbolt has a chance to OHKO, if you have it. * Maxie (Mt. Chimney): Stay right away from Mightyena - unlike Poochyena, you can't even 2HKO with Thunderbolt, while it annihilates you with Bite. Zubat likely dies instantly to Thunderbolt and will get 2HKOed by Confusion, making that matchup safe enough. Stay back from Camerupt - if Tabitha's Numel's Magnitude was already scary enough, this Camerupt is much more terrifying. * Gym #4 - Flannery (Lavaridge Town, Fire-type): Kirlia's Psychic should 2HKO Numel, but watch out for its Overheat, which hurts, its Magnitude, which has good potential to hurt, and its Sunny Day, which doesn't hurt initially, but will make the fight so much harder. Psychic will 2HKO Slugma, but if sunlight is activated, get out of there, as a sun-boosted Overheat could possibly OHKO Kirlia. Stay away from Camerupt and Torkoal - their Overheats can OHKO without sunlight. * Gym #5 - Norman (Petalburg City, Normal-type): Spinda is for Norman as what Luvdisc is for Wallace in Ruby and Sapphire. This will be your setup mon, as Spinda can only 4HKO at best under ideal circumstances, while you can already very nearly OHKO it with Psychic. However, it would behoove you to set up for a bit with Calm Mind, as this will be a lifesaver in the battle. Just be careful not to get permalocked into Spinda's Encore. After two Calm Minds, Psychic will OHKO Spinda, Vigoroth, and Linoone (although of the three, Linoone outspeeds and can 4HKO with either of its offensive options. Slaking can only be OHKOed after three Calm Minds, and a guaranteed OHKO only occurs after four, and Slaking outspeeds. However, because of Slaking's Truant, a 2HKO should suffice. Just be wary of Slaking if you have low health, as its Facade can wipe out 70% of Gardevoir's HP, and a crit will OHKO from full health. * Shelly (Weather Institute): Carvanha is slower than Gardevoir, and you probably know Thunderbolt by this point, which OHKOs. Mightyena is safe to fight, as their Bites can only 4HKO, while your Thunderbolts can 2HKO. * Rival (Route 119): Thunderbolt will OHKO Pelipper, praise based x4 weaknesses, although you only fight it if you chose Treecko as your starter, which nobody really does by choice. Psychic cleanly 2HKOs Lombre, while the most it can do is Fake Out and maybe Fury Swipes doing some small damage. Psychic OHKOs Slugma, unless it somehow outspeeds and uses Amnesia, but that's not happening unless something absolutely stupid happens. Combusken will never stand up to Psychic, so take it down. Grovyle will be 2HKOed by Psychic, but be careful - it outspeeds and can hurt with Fury Cutter chains or a critical Leaf Blade. Psychic will also 2HKO Marshtomp, which is a considerably safer fight than Grovyle, as it can only 4HKO with Mud Shot. * Gym #6 - Winona (Fortree City, Flying-type): Thunderbolt completely destroys Swablu and Pelipper, so go wild against them - just make sure that before you kill Pelipper, set up a Calm Mind or two, because it provides a nice boost. On that note, setting up against Swablu is, surprisingly, not very safe, because it will likely use Perish Song, rendering all of your setup useless, so it is better to just faint it fast with Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt also has a chance to OHKO that Skarmory without a boost - if you had a Calm Mind set prior, you can secure an instant faint. Tropius is 2HKOed by Psychic after a Calm Mind boost, and there is a chance to OHKO after two, while it can only 4HKO you at best. It's Altaria that holds a problem, but if you set up a Calm Mind, you can 2HKO with Psychic - just be careful, because Altaria can speed tie or set up a Dragon Dance, leading into Earthquake or Aerial Ace. * Rival (Lilycove City): Tropius is 2-3HKOed by Psychic, while it can only 6HKO under the best circumstances. However, there's no point in setting up Calm Minds here, as it knows Whirlwind, which will render your setups useless. Psychic also 2-3HKOs Ludicolo, although feel free to set up a single Calm Mind here, as Ludicolo can hardly harm you. Thunderbolt OHKOs Pelipper, no surprise there. For Slugma, read the prior Rival encounter. Use Psychic against Combusken to OHKO, that's simple enough. Psychic will 2HKO Marshtomp without a Calm Mind boost, so if you set one up before that, you're set for it. Psychic also 2HKOs Grovyle, but be careful once again of Pursuit, Fury Cutter, and Leaf Blade. * Tabitha (Jagged Pass Hideout): Psychic OHKOs Numel and Zubat, making them extremely easy targets. Mightyena is 2HKOed by Thunderbolt, and you outspeed it, while it can only 4HKO you with Bite, making that matchup safe enough. Finally, Camerupt is also 2HKOed by Psychic, although that will turn into a 3HKO if it decides to use Amnesia for its first attack. It's Rock Slide will 4HKO you, however, so if Gardevoir has avoided prior injury, it should be a safe battle. * Maxie (Jagged Pass Hideout): First off, it is unlikely that you will have gained enough experience between Tabitha and Maxie to account for the massive level spike that occurs between them, so this matchup assumes Gardevoir here is at level 34. As for the fight itself... Mightyena is very tricky, as both Gardevoir and Mightyena have similar speed at these levels, and both will 3HKO with either Thunderbolt or Take Down. Fight at your own risk. Crobat can be 2HKOed by either of your offensive options, but watch out - it outspeeds, and Air Cutter is a 3HKO with a high crit chance. Camerupt is unfightable - Earthquake 2HKOs, while Psychic is only a 3HKO. * Matt (Lilycove Hideout): Oh, wow. This fight... is just way, way too easy. Mightyena knows absolutely no attacking moves, and its only real threat against you is Swagger, which can be alleviated with Lava Cookies or Persim Berries - as long as you have those, it is nearly impossible to die to Mightyena as long as you know Thunderbolt. Golbat actually has attacking moves, although you have Psychic, which should OHKO it. * Gym #7 - Tate and Liza (Mossdeep City, Psychic-type): Unfortunately, this fight is very difficult for Gardevoir to take on properly. Claydol is just untouchable, as its Earthquake can 2HKO Gardevoir, while your Psychic hardly leaves a dent. Xatu is a lot nicer to fight, with Thunderbolt being really close to an OHKO, although you cannot forget that this is a double battle, and that Gardevoir could take a hit from both Xatu and Claydol if it's unlucky. Lunatone is just flat-out annoying, since it can place you to sleep and raise its Special Defense to astronomical levels. Solrock is a lot nicer to battle against, even if it is under the sun, because your Thunderbolt 3HKOs, while its sun-boosted Flamethrower is stuck in 5HKO range. Just watch that Lunatone doesn't set up Light Screen, which steers the battle in the twins' favor. * Maxie and Tabitha (Mossdeep Space Center, tag battle with Steven): At the battle's opening, you may want to lead with Calm Mind, which will give you a fairly decent advantage for a good chunk of the fight. At +1, Thunderbolt 2HKOs Maxie's lead Mightyena, and Psychic will OHKO Tabitha's lead Camerupt. Tabitha's Mightyena is 2HKOed by Thunderbolt as well, while its only move is Take Down, which hurts, but not enough to keep you on your toes. Maxie's Crobat is usually only naturally 2HKOed by Psychic, although with a Calm Mind boost, Psychic secures an OHKO. Psychic OHKOs Tabitha's Golbat with or without a Calm Mind boost, so go wild on it. You should only fight Maxie's Camerupt if you have sufficient health remaining. With a Calm Mind boost, Psychic is a 2HKO. However, if you are facing it with less than half of your health remaining, be careful: Camerupt's Earthquake can 2HKO Gardevoir. * Shelly (Seafloor Cavern): With your level advantage, Thunderbolt easily OHKOs Sharpedo. Thunderbolt will only 2HKO Mightyena, but it can't do much damage with its Take Down anyways, so this battle is fairly safe. * Archie (Seafloor Cavern): Against the Mightyena, you may want to lead with a single Calm Mind boost, which will help you defend against some impending Dark-type attacks. At +1, Thunderbolt secures a 2HKO against Mightyena, while its Take Down only has a 3HKO chance against you. Psychic, with a Calm Mind boost, will easily OHKO Crobat, while its best attack against Gardevoir, thanks to Calm Mind, is Wing Attack, which only has a 3HKO chance. Thunderbolt easily OHKOs Sharpedo, while its Slash is stuck in a 3HKO chance. In short, a bit of healing may be required, but this fight is easy otherwise. * Gym #8 - Juan (Sootopolis City, Water-type): Now, Thunderbolt is a guaranteed OHKO against Luvdisc, and even Psychic has a chance to OHKO. However, if you're a smart player, what you should do is set up six Calm Minds. If six seems like overkill, four should suffice. With four boosts, you will guarantee that Thunderbolt OHKOs Sealeo and Crawdaunt, and that Psychic will OHKO Whiscash and that darn Resto-Chesto Kingdra. * Wally (Victory Road): Altaria is 3HKOed by Psychic, although if you use Calm Mind on turn 1, that will turn it into a 2HKO. Meanwhile, Altaria's Aerial Ace can only 4HKO Gardevoir, pushed into a 3HKO by Dragon Dance - as long as it doesn't crit, you're good. If you did set up with a Calm Mind, most of the rest of the battle will be extremely easy. With a Calm Mind boost, Delcatty will be OHKOed by Psychic, and so will Roselia - although Roselia would be OHKOed even without a boost. Even Magneton, with its resistance, is 2HKOed by a +1 Psychic, while its Thunderbolt is stuck at a 5HKO. The only thing that really poses a problem to you is Wally's own Gardevoir. While your Thunderbolt will 3HKO it at +1, Wally's knows both Calm Mind, which reduces your effectiveness, and Double Team, which is just plain annoying. * Elite Four Sidney (Ever Grande City, Dark-type): Unfortunately, Dark-types just prove too much for Gardevoir to handle, even when trained up for Wallace. The only thing that you could try to fight is Crawdaunt, which is OHKOed by Thunderbolt. * Elite Four Phoebe (Ever Grande City, Ghost-type): If Dark-types were bad, Ghost-types are somehow even worse. Because all Ghost-type moves are Physical in this generation, they will be hitting Gardevoir's weaker defensive stat. Furthermore, Sableye's dual-typing means that Gardevoir will be unable to use its STAB attacks on it. Stay away from this fight. * Elite Four Glacia (Ever Grande City, Ice-type): Finally, something that Gardevoir can manage. Your Thunderbolt by itself already has a chance to OHKO the first Sealeo, although the smartest decision you could make here is to lead with not one, but two Calm Minds. With a +2 boost to your Special Attack, Thunderbolt OHKOs both Sealeos and the Walrein, and Psychic will OHKO both Glalies. * Elite Four Drake (Ever Grande City, Dragon-type): Too bad this isn't ORAS, as Gardevoir's Fairy-type would be really fun to exploit here. Ah, whatever, Dragon-type moves will still only hit Gardevoir's stronger Special Defense stat. Furthermore, Drake's first Pokemon, Shelgon, is perfect setup fodder. Use three Calm Minds, heal if it decides to use Double-Edge, which admittedly hurts quite a bit, and sweep with Psychic. * Champion Wallace (Ever Grande City, Water-type): The first thing you should do right from the start is to use Thunderbolt - just a single one, as that will not kill Wailord, but it will weaken Wailord's Water Spout attack to near-useless levels; with enough luck, you may even score a paralysis, but don't rely on it. Once you've done this, begin using Calm Mind - three will be enough to carry you through the battle. Before you finish off Wailord, make sure you're healed up enough, as a few of Wallace's Pokemon are faster than Gardevoir due to either their high speed or rain-based abilities. After Wailord goes down, Tentacruel is OHKOed by either +3 Thunderbolt or +3 Psychic, but be careful - Tentacruel can outspeed Gardevoir, and it can use Toxic to greatly cripple you or Sludge Bomb to cause significant damage. Ludicolo will outspeed Gardevoir in rain thanks to Swift Swim, but the worst it can do to you is a 6HKO with Surf - you, on the other hand, will OHKO with a +3 Psychic. +3 Psychic will cleanly OHKO Whiscash, while it cannot outspeed in order to damage you. Gardevoir has a chance to be outsped by Gyarados, although as long as you've got at least 70% of your health remaining, you'll survive its non-critical Hyper Beam and OHKO with Thunderbolt. Finally, Milotic is OHKOed by Thunderbolt, and although it may outspeed you in the worst of situations, its Surf attack can only 5HKO you at worst. * Post-Game: Steven's Steel-typing will mess Gardevoir up, so leave him to someone else. }} Moves When you first find Ralts, the only move it will know is Growl. While terrible at first glance, a little bit of switch-out training will eventually yield its second move, Confusion, at Level 6, giving it some good temporary offense until you can find something better. Level 11 gives Ralts Double Team, which isn't very reliable and can be replaced at the earliest opportunity. Teleport is learned at Level 16, which is very nice for grinding in certain spots such as Jagged Pass or Route 111, which otherwise would necessitate a lot of walking, although it should be dumped for a more useful option later on. After evolving, Kirlia learns Calm Mind at Level 21, which is an amazing setup move for this line. Then, at Level 26, you can throw Confusion out the door and make way for Psychic, this line's best offensive option. Gardevoir will attempt to learn Imprison at Level 33, but that move is literally trash, so don't learn it. Future Sight at Level 42 has its utilities, as Gen 3's odd mechanics for the attack utilize the Special Defense of the Pokemon out at the time of the attack, rather than the one receiving it, enabling some excellent combo attacks if you can manage to OHKO opponents. Level 51 will give Gardevoir Hypnosis, increasing its supporting moveset, and at Level 60, she begins comboing it with Dream Eater. However, because Dream Eater comes so late, it is unlikely you will be able to use it properly. Gardevoir's TM moveset is not as impressive as in later generations, unfortunately. The best TM it can learn is Thunderbolt, which is renewable at the Game Corner, making it a good candidate for Gardevoir's moveset. If you don't want to waste time getting coins, Shock Wave is a less-powerful alternative, but the extra time earning coins will pay off in the long run. Reflect and Light Screen are also viable moves that a Gardevoir can take advantage of, increasing team survivability as well as her own. Also, because of the Dark-type being Special in this Generation, Gardevoir could make some use of Thief as a utility move, but in terms of combative usefulness, it would make more sense to choose something else. Recommended moveset: Psychic, Thunderbolt, Calm Mind, Future Sight / Hypnosis / Reflect / Light Screen Recommended Teammates * Dark-types: Dark-type Pokemon can act as a safe switch-out for Gardevoir if it finds itself against something that is super-effective against it. Dark-types resist Ghost-type attacks, and can even hit them back super-effectively. They also resist other Dark-type attacks, and with coverage, may be able to hit back at least neutrally. Unfortunately, Dark-types aren't really prepared to deal with Bug-type attacks, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem, considering the only real Bug-type threat in the game is Armaldo. Gardevoir can also take out Fighting-type threats that Dark-types fail to be able to handle. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Mightyena, Sharpedo, Cacturne, Shiftry, Sableye, Crawdaunt, Absol * Physically-Defensive Pokemon: Gardevoir is very frail on the physical side, and too many heavy hits can spell trouble. As such, Gardevoir will likely need team support from a more defensive Pokemon that can fall in on a stronger Pokemon that just outmatches Gardevoir in a one-on-one fight. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Golem, Aggron, Skarmory, Donphan, Relicanth Other Ralts' stats Kirlia's stats Gardevoir's stats * What Nature do I want? If you can get a nature that reduces Attack, such as Modest or Timid, that would be amazing, since Gardevoir is by no means a physical attacker, and Gallade doesn't come around until Generation 4. * Which Ability do I want? Trace is the better nature, since you can turn potentially deadly abilities such as Intimidate right back at the opponent. This should go without saying, but be careful not to trace abilities such as Truant. Synchronize is also viable, especially in Emerald, where you can have a small degree of control over the Nature of wild encounters. * At what point in the game should I be evolved? Quicker evolutions are preferred, as each evolution is a direct upgrade to the prior stage. It is recommended to have Kirlia before the climb up Mt. Chimney, and Gardevoir before Winona. * How good is the Ralts line in a Nuzlocke? The final verdict: it's pretty good. If it can find a spot to set up Calm Mind, then Gardevoir is more than capable of ruining opposing teams. Unfortunately, its rarity means that if you don't find it right away, you won't be using it, and even if you do manage to get your hands on a Ralts, it requires constant babying until it reaches level 30 due to the sheer number of physical and Dark-type threats thanks to the villainous teams during that stretch of the game. Once it does reach the Gardevoir stage, however, the game begins to lighten up a bit, allowing it to reign mostly free until the Elite Four. If you can keep Gardevoir away from physical attacks, it'll be able to handle quite a bit of the late game. * Weaknesses: Bug, Dark, Ghost * Resistances: Fighting, Psychic * Immunities: None * Neutralities: Normal, Flying, Ground, Rock, Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Ice, Dragon, Steel Category:Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald